At 63, he can't resist shoplifting, despite 18 years in jail

Wed, Oct 08, 2014, 09:04 PM

Singapore, Oct 8 : A man of South Asian origin given to shoplifting and having already served an 18-year imprisonment for this habit, was again sentenced to 16 months in jail Wednesday in Singapore for latest offences.

M. Mahalingam, 63, who is unemployed, pleaded guilty to stealing a can of beer on two different occasions in March this year from a supermarket, the Strait Times reported.

These two offences were only the latest in a string of more than 20 similar crimes Mahalingam has committed since 1987 - a laundry list that took the prosecution almost five minutes to read out.

"(The) substantial imprisonment terms you have served have not caused you to wake up," Community Court Judge Lim Keng Yeow noted sternly.

Mahalingam claimed to be remorseful but Judge Lim said: "To what extent do you think you can be taken seriously given your past offences?"